Hoskins sees red early on as 10-man Cobblers slip to Stags defeat

Cobblers started so well against the lowly Stags but Hoskins' red card, on just 11 minutes, left them with a mountain to climb, especially once Danny Rose stuck away the subsequent spot-kick.

The hosts kept at it and had chances to level but defeat was essentially confirmed with 16 minutes to go when Mansfield caught Town light at the back and Willem Tomlinson finished coolly.

There was no mistaking that referee Peter Wright had been the star of the show though. He regularly lost control and gave a series of baffling decisions, much to the frustration of players on both sides.

That made for a niggly and fractious game but the result of it was victory for Mansfield and a damaging defeat for the Cobblers.

Northampton's automatic promotion hopes are now definitely over but they do remain in the play-offs, albeit only by a point from Port Vale.

Keith Curle kept faith with the same team that won at Grimsby last time out and Cobblers enjoyed all of the early possession with Nicky Adams' free-kick excellently tipped over by Aidan Stone.

But Town's strong start unravelled in disastrous fashion on 11 minutes as they suffered a double blow. Hoskins, the only man back, saw his attempted clearance blocked and the ricochet fell kindly for Charsley, who raced through on goal.

He was about to pull the trigger when nudged in the back by Hoskins and the referee was quick to point to the spot before also sending off the Town man, who made no attempt to play the ball as the last defender.

Rose sent Steve Arnold the wrong way to make it 1-0 and suddenly Town were facing a tall order, trailing and down to 10 men with nearly 80 minutes still to play.

The early red card set the tone for a bad-tempered and frenetic first-half that saw players from both sides regularly confront each other as referee Wright lost total control of the game.

Alan McCormack was at the centre of it, regularly surrounding the referee and venting frustration at Mansfield's apparent play-acting, while Charlie Goode might also have been lucky not to be given his marching orders when, on a yellow, he committed a needless foul just outside his box.

There was little to shout about in terms of the actual football but Town did a good job of stifling their opponents to keep themselves in the contest for as long as possible.

There was one moment of alarm a few minutes shy of half-time when Rose's shot from an acute angle was palmed away by Arnold before Charsley's follow-up effort was headed off the line by Goode.

Cobblers battled away gamely with their numerical disadvantage and almost levelled in first-half stoppage-time through Vadaine Oliver's bicycle kick, which flew just wide.

Harry Smith replaced Mark Marshall at the break and Town, now lining up 3-3-3, started well in the second-half with Smith and Goode heading off target.

They also seemed to have a strong penalty shout turned down when Scott Wharton took a blow to the face when challenging for the ball inside the box.

Town's attacking approach was admirable but it left gaps at the other end and Mansfield almost exploited the space when Tomlinson got into the box and clipped the crossbar.

Smith's volley cleared the crossbar on the hour while Lloyd Jones' header was tipped over and Wharton's flick pushed around the post.

But the game was put to bed with 16 minutes to go. Mansfield had been threatening on the counter all half and they finally made one breakaway chance count through Tomlinson, who coolly rolled into the bottom corner.

Cobblers did get one back deep into stoppage-time when Smith headed home Adams' cross but that came far too late to influence the outcome.

Match facts

Cobblers: Arnold, Goode (c), Wharton, Turnbull, McCormack (Jones 65), Watson, Hoskins, Marshall (Smith 45), Adams, Morton (Pollock 68), Oliver.

Subs not used: Cornell, Harriman, Lines, Anderson

Mansfield: Stone, Pearce (c), Bishop, Watts (White 87), Tomlinson, Sweeney, Riley, CJ Hamilton, Charsley, Rose, Maynard (Davies 82)

Subs not used: Benning, Evans, Sinclair, Knowles, Campbell

Referee: Peter Wright

Attendance: 5,666

Mansfield fans: 767